As for picture taking, I am pretty confident that my close up shots are pretty good and my method has remained pretty steady for a while.Camera with close up setting. if it doesn't have it then try to turn the flash setting off. if it has a red eye reduction setting turn this off too. My Kodak has a close up setting so I don't have to change any perameters.next, position the model with a light background (any color that is pastel or light tones).three lights, the room light or whatever is the ambient source (sunlight through a window or overhead lights doesn't matter), then aim a desk lamp or two positioned at oposing angles to the ambient source (can be high or low depending on the model) and try to reduce the shadow it casts to near 0. then only your shadows are actually shading the model. you can do this with only one light also if you use the same idea of reducing the shadow it casts with whatever ambient source your have.if you have a digital then you can decide the zoom and clarity before you take the shot and retakes are seconds away and so are deletes. take a few shots and check them out. if the highlights are bright, move your desk light away or diffuse it with a sheet (white t-shirt), if your getting shadows that are extreme, then plan the desk lights angle to assist your shot because somehwere it is 'backlighting' in perspective to your camera angle.upload photos to computer, crop the photo to focus on the model, then change the pixel size to 600 width keeping aspect ratio. the file size should be from 35kb to 70kb which is nothing and the pic is clear. post on personal blog or photosharing site and link to it here.

Don't try to take the picture too close to the fig, especially if your camera doesn't have a macro or close-up setting. If you have trouble getting your figs to be in focus, take a step back. Modern digital cameras have such a high resolution you are going to have to shrink the picture down anyway.

I also want to emphasize what (I guess) Sithious said via ukrocky above.

Once you have taken the picture, load it onto your computer and CROP IT. I can't tell you how many times I have seen pictures of miniatures where the miniature itself only takes up about 1/10th of the whole picture and the rest is background. That makes t basically impossible for people to actually make out any details on the figure.

Hey guys, thanks for the tips. I'll hopefully be posting some miniatures on here soon, but I've never uploaded pictures on the web before (other than Facebook).

ukrocky wrote:upload photos to computer, crop the photo to focus on the model, then change the pixel size to 600 width keeping aspect ratio. the file size should be from 35kb to 70kb which is nothing and the pic is clear. post on personal blog or photosharing site and link to it here.

Would a photosharing site be something like photobucket?

"That's impossible, there's no such thing as trolls.""Then how do you explain all the dead unicorns?"

yes, photobucket, flikr, or make a website on freewebs, myspace, and many others all with hold pictures and allow you to upload them...sharing is easy from there with either URL links or you can look up the properties of the photo and copy/paste that url between the brackets using the Img button here.

Hey, Could someone tell me exactly how to bring photos over from flickr? I tried pasting in the URL but its only bringing up a link to the Flickr site!

Cheers,Stephen

and it is sung that the axe smoked in the black blood of the troll-guard of Gothmog until it withered and each time that he slew Hurin cried 'Aure entuluva! Day shall come again!' Seventy times he uttered that cry; but they took him at last alive...

Coincidentally I got the latest Maplin catalogue today (Maplin is a gadget/electronic equipment supplier, for those not in the UK). In it there is what they call an eBay Photo Studio Kit. Essentially it looks like it's a small booth with lights and a tripod for one's own camera, ideal for close-ups of single miniatures or small groups. Even if you don't buy one or intend making your own it's a handy set-up to compare with.